Our community seems to put much emphasis on two paradoxically polarized ideals:
Keeping to tradition and creating positive change.
This paradox has begun to creep into the "legacy" ideal as well.
Tracing my fraternal heritage through my father's family: my grandfather never went to a university as an undergraduate- he was able to enter Optometry school upon completion of his military service. My grandmother never really attended college either other than as a sort of secretarial training. So, my father became the first (in my direct line) to really experience what it means to be an undergraduate.
My father pledged Phi Delta Theta at the University of Akron and became an active brother. His pledging experience was just a little bit different than the SigEp balanced man process (let's just say his experience was not ideal and wouldn't fly now-a-days). He loved his time as a brother. However, he never really talks about it- He's secretary of his Alumni board, and recently helped with a HUGE project to completely reconstruct the Phi Delt house at Akron (which is now BEAUTIFUL- definitely the best looking house on their campus). However, I never really thought of my dad as a "fraternity man". My experiences with his Greek identity have consisted of a quick visit to the house when I was 10 or 11 to collect coins out of the washing machines late one night (one of his duties at the time), seeing his house on coasters we use at our house, and hearing an infamous story about how he didn't tell my grandmother where he was staying one night and she called the fraternity house an alleged 50 times at 2 AM.
My dad never really talked to me about going Greek and once I told him that I was considering going Greek, he never really told me to look into his organization. In fact, I can honestly say I didn't even know what organization my father was in until after I had begun new member education (or "Sigma" for those of you familiar with the balanced man process).
But what if he DID desire a legacy? Am I obligated to carry on the fraternal tradition (a core value of greek life) or am I to pick an organization with which I identify most and see providing me the lifestyle needed to maximize my best self (another core value of greek life)?
When/If I have a son, I'd love for him to one day carry on my legacy in SigEp, but I think I'll go with my dad's strategy: If he asks me about my fraternal experience, I'll be honest, and I may encourage him to look into it more than my dad encouraged me just because of everything being in a fraternity has done to positively impact my life.
But to me, improving oneself and one's organization just slightly outweighs the tradition in being a legacy.
Oh and did I mention that his chapter here is directly across the street from my chapter house? Talk about irony.
Oh and did I mention that his chapter here is directly across the street from my chapter house? Talk about irony.
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